Rick Schroder

Still boyishy handsome, Ricky Schroder will celebrate his 40th birthday on Tuesday with a pizza party – no small feat, given that he and his wife and four children now live in Spain.

"I feel good," the former Silver Spoons star tells PEOPLE, also noting good-naturedly that he does suffer occasional lower back pain and possibly needs reading glasses. But most of all, reaching the milestone has afforded him perspective – which explains, at his wife Andrea's urging, why the family packed their bags and moved to Spain last June.

"Our oldest son is going to college in the fall," Schroder tells PEOPLE, speaking by phone from the family's rented home in Barcelona.

The usually golden life of former Silver Spoons actor Ricky Schroder took a dramatic turn in the summer of 2007 – when Schroder and his wife Andrea's eldest son, Holden, collided with a truck while riding his dirt bike near the family home, PEOPLE reports in its latest issue, on sale Friday.

On impact, Holden's helmet flew off and he was thrown through the air, sliding under the truck, where his skull hit the vehicle's axle.

"It was the worst call," Ricky, 38, recalls about the sobbing message he received over the phone from his son's best friend.

When they arrived at the hospital, the parents saw that Holden's condition was much worse than they thought.